It is well known in the art that maintaining high exhaust temperatures and low intake temperatures for combustion engines increases the horsepower thereby produced. It is also well known in the art that pipe insulation reduces heat transfer, which both maintains internal pipe temperatures and protects the surrounding vehicle components from pipe temperatures.
Many methods of preventing heat transfer exist in the art; however, many are expensive, require disassembly of the exhaust system, do not cover the entire component, are not adaptable to various end-user size requirements, are not adaptable to systems that have multiple, concurrent size requirements, are bulky, and/or do not provide adequate thermal protection or insulation. Ceramic coatings exist but are expensive, require the component to be disassembled from the vehicle, and are not as effective for insulating as the present invention. Insulating sleeves or wraps are also used but also require disassembly of the component from the vehicle since these wraps are designed to slide onto pipes or tubes. Also, many of these sleeves are not flexible as they are either rigid or require a rigid protective cover. Insulating tapes are also used to insulate pipes, but these are difficult to apply, are not durable, unwrap, and are not as effective for insulating as the present invention. Also, many of these sleeves do not allow for their use on systems having a variety of concurrent size requirements, such as on a pipe having multiple diameters, a pipe system where a portion thereof benefits by an air gap between the sleeve and the pipe, or a pipe system that includes a component therein that is larger than the diameter of the pipe. Finally, many of these means of insulating either do not attempt to reflect radiant heat or are not as effective for reflecting radiant heat as the present invention. As it is important to protect the pipes from conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer, it is important to provide a means of insulation that incorporates both insulating material and reflective material.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing deficiencies in the prior art, the applicant's invention is herein presented.